ive him a coat and a vest," he said, "and shoes for his feet, and
a two-edged sword, and I will send him on his way. But I cannot take him
into the house, where the suitors would mock at him and use him ill. One
man cannot restrain them, and he so young as I."

Then Ulysses said, "Sir, if I may speak, I would say foul wrong is done
you in your house, and my heart burns at the thought. Do your people hate
you, or will your brothers give you no support? Would that I were as young
as you are, and were Ulysses's son or Ulysses himself. I would go to the
palace and fall upon all the throng, and die there, one man against a
hundred, sooner than see the shameful deeds that are done in that glorious
house."

And Telemachus answered, "Hear me, stranger, and I will tell you all. My
people do not hate me, and I have no quarrel with them. But I have no
brothers to stand by me, for Zeus has never given more than one son to
each generation of our line. And there are many foemen in the house, all
the princes of the islands, and they too woo my mother and threaten my
life, and I cannot see how it will end."

Then he said to Eumaeus, "Go up to the house, old father, as quickly as you
can, and tell my mother that I am come back safe from Pylos, and I will
wait for you here."

And Eumaeus answered, "I hear, master, and understand. But shall I not go
to Laertes on my way and tell him too? For since you set sail for Pylos,
they say he has not eaten or drunk or gone about his work, but sits in his
house sorrowing and wasting away with grief."

But Telemachus bade him go straight to the palace and return at once, and
let the queen send word to Laertes by one of the maids. So Eumaeus went
forth, and when Athene saw him go, she drew near, and came and stood by
the gateway and showed herself to Ulysses, a tall and beautiful woman,
with wisdom in her look. The dogs saw her too and were afraid, and shrank
away whining into the corner of the yard, but Telemachus could not see
her. Then the goddess nodded to Ulysses, and he went out and stood before
her, and she said, "Noble Ulysses, now is the time to reveal yourself to
your son, and go forth with him to the town, with death and doom for the
suitors. I shall be near you in the battle and eager to fight."

Then she touched him with her golden wand and gave him his beauty and
stature once more, and his old bronzed color came back and his beard grew
thick and his garments shone bright again: and